Taxman Issues Fewer Judgments on Unreported Wages
Information from the Tax Board's tax evasion tipster line resulted in only half of the amount it netted last year.
Over 1,000 people reported cases in which companies paid individuals wages under the table in 2011 without declaring the amount, enabling the Tax Board to collect an additional 1.45 million euros, down from 2.9 million euros for 2010.
A total of 600 cases were closed, with violations found in 92 percent of cases. The numbers for a year earlier were 745 and 78 percent.
The Tax Board said that in trying economic times people sometimes found themselves facing a choice of being unemployed or accepting unreported wages.
The Tax Board stressed that payment and acceptance of envelope pay is tax evasion
"It is a completely false view that this is how employers give employees the income tax that would otherwise have been paid to the state. Only the employer usually wins from this, not the employee."
Companies face a fine of up to 13,000 euros and individuals, up to 1,200 euros.
Kristopher Rikken